Finding a schedule that works for you can be one of the hardest parts about creating for a living. As a creative, one of the things you’re going to notice is that your schedule may not be the same as everyone else’s. Even if you have fellow creatives as friends who swear by their schedule or morning routine, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be right for you.

Creatives naturally tend to need to follow their own ways to fully experience their true creative potential. This is as true with their schedules as any other part of their creative lives. You need to find what works for you, and that can take a little trial and error.

A Traditional Work Schedule May Not Be Right For You

When you first enter into the creative life, if you’re coming from a more traditional background, you might start by trying to follow that traditional schedule. If it works for you, excellent. But there’s also the very likely possibility that it won’t. Creativity doesn’t necessarily follow a 9-5 schedule.

You’ll have to figure out when your own body and mind’s time of peak creativity are. And then you’ll have to utilize that knowledge into your schedule. Figure out what times of day (or even what days of the week) are you most creatively productive times and make a schedule that reserves them for that particular type of work.

You’ll come across all kinds of ideas about the most productive times of days, what you should be doing when, etc. That’s all well and good if you have the same schedule as those people, but what if your peak hours of productivity happen to be while everyone else is sleeping? Then that perfect productive schedule that works for someone else, definitely isn’t going to work for you.

Trial and Error

It takes a lot of trial and error in finding a schedule that works for you. Sometimes it can even take a few years before you stumble onto your perfect schedule, but once you do, you’ll know it. Everything just suddenly seems to click. Things come together so much easier and you’ll feel less tired. You’ll get more done, and you won’t feel like you’re having to push yourself so much.

Once you find that perfect schedule, keep it. Don’t let anyone try to tell you you’re doing it wrong, or that your schedule doesn’t utilize your peak hours. Your peak hours of production probably aren’t the same as theirs. And most importantly, don’t let anyone shame you for the hours you keep. One of the great things about the creative life is that, while you’ll probably work more hours than normal people, you also get to choose what time of day you want to do that. Don’t let anyone shame you into keeping a “normal” schedule if it’s not right for you.

Early To Bed, Early To Rise Ain’t For Everyone

Our society tends to celebrate early to bed, early to rise people. That’s great if you happen to be one of those people, but not all of us are. Some of us just work better in the later hours of the night. But for some reason we’re seen as lazy if we get up late. We’re not sleeping any longer than early to bed, early to rise people. We’re just going to bed later, and thus getting up later. For some reason society just hasn’t accept that yet.

You just have to get passed what people think. I used to be embarrassed to tell people that I get up at 9 or 10AM. But eventually I realized, hey, I usually go to bed around 2 or 3AM, so why would I get up earlier than 9 or 10? It may seem lazy to some people, but the truth is I’m usually working or creating in those late hours, not just vegging in front the television or something. I get the same amount of sleep as other people, I just have a shifted schedule because it works better for me. (Well, during market season, sometimes I get less sleep with those in bed at 2AM, up at 6AM nights 😉 ). So now when someone gives me that you-get-up-at-10 look, I usually just say, yeah, but what time did you go to bed? It makes people realize we have the same sleep schedule, just at different times of the day.

Follow Your Own Body Clock

I’ve never been able to go to bed early. Even as a young child, I was always lying awake in bed long after my parents put me to sleep. It never mattered how early I got up, or how hard I worked that day, if I went to bed too early, I simply wasn’t going to sleep. (And don’t even get me started on how much daylight savings time screws me up!).

As I got a little older and began managing my own schedule, I just embraced the fact that my body clock was different. Anyone who’s studied sleep science knows this is an actual fact. Some people really do just have a different body clock. My best hours of sleep come between the hours of 8AM and 10AM. So I began working according to my own body’s schedule, and life has been a lot better. I get a lot more done in a day, and spend a lot less time lying awake in bed at night, wasting time unable to sleep.

By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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